Multimedia Environmental Courses
Introduction to Environmental Science/Brownfield
Action
120 students, non-majors, for College lab science requirement
Exploring the Poles
First Year Seminar, non-majors
Earth’s Environmental Systems
Joint Barnard and Columbia
Climate, Solid Earth, Life semesters
Required for majors
Hydrology and Environmental Data Analysis
Electives for majors
http://www.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/brownfield/
 interactive simulation of an investigation of
a suspected contaminated land site
 very close to real-world scenarios
 students
 form environmental consulting companies
 have to operate within a given budget
 use interviews and various environmental testing
strategies to pinpoint the source and type of
contamination
 Report on the findings of their ‘company’
http://www.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/brownfield/
Exploring the Poles
First Year Seminar
Uses turn-of-the-century Arctic and Antarctic
expeditions to explore
leadership, teamwork, preparation, decisions under
uncertainty
role of the environment and environmental change
Readings: first author, comparative analysis,
novelized
Fridtjof Nansen’s Farthest North
Roland Huntford’s The Last Place on Earth (Amundsen and
Scott)
Alfred Lansing’s Endurance (Shackelton)
Multimedia approach
Simulated expedition teams
On line journals
 https://courseworks.columbia.edu/cms/outview/courseenter.cfm?no=FYSBX1566_001_2002_3
After 4 Years of Drift with Arctic Sea Ice
Start
Start
Circle shows approximate southern limit of perennial sea ice
Earth’s Environmental Systems:
Climate
Developed jointly by Barnard and Columbia
Required for Environmental Science, Environmental
Biology and Environmental Policy majors
Ca. 25 students/semester
Deals with Atmosphere, Oceans, Biogeochemistry,
Present, Past and Future Climates
Team taught
Web served
Interactive, largely web-based lab
Global databases
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/dees/ees/climate
South-North Temperature Transect Through the Atlantic Ocean
Warm
Tropical
Water
Cold
Antarctic
Bottom
Water
Warm
Mediterranean
Overflow
Water
South-North Salinity Transect Through the Atlantic Ocean
Fresh
Antarctic
Intermediate
Water
High Salinity
Caused by
Evaporation
Under
Subtropical
Highs
Saline
Mediterranean
Overflow
Water
Environmental Data Analysis EESC BC 3017
 Multidisciplinary approaches to environmental problem-solving
 Acquisition, analysis and presentation of real- time and historical
environmental data
 Assessment of spatial and temporal variability
 Use of statistical software packages for analysis and display
 3 main data sets (= projects):
 Atmospheric Ozone in NYC
 Outdoor particulate matter
in NYC air
 Indoor air pollution
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~martins/eda.html
Ozone in NYC air
NOX
O3
Temperature
0.16
40
35
0.14
30
0.12
25
0.10
20
0.08
15
0.06
10
0.04
0.02
5
0.00
0
0
24
48
hours after midnight, 8/8/02
72
96
Air temperature (C)
NOx and ozone concentrations (ppb)
0.18
Hydrology EESC BC 3025
 Discussion of the basic physical principles of the water cycle
(evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff, stream flow,
percolation, and groundwater flow), as well as environmentally
relevant applications based on case studies.
 Studio approach, including
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
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Lectures
Group discussions
Classroom demonstrations
Data analysis
Field trips
Laboratory excercises
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~martins/hydro.html